Labour E20 Canvass & #HappyBirthdayHardie

This morning there was a physical "Labour doorstep" canvass in Stratford, Newham followed by a celebration of Keir Hardie's Birthday (tomorrow 15 August) and his links with the borough. The Keir Hardie Society encourage supporters to post pictures to show his legacy as one of the most influential people in British politics. 

Keir was elected as the first Labour MP in 1892 for what was then called the West Ham South Parliamentary seat. 

The main picture shows activists holding copies of one of his election leaflets outside Stratford Town Hall where the election count in 1892 took place. Keir is reputed to have made his acceptance speech from the balcony to cheering crowds below. 

Bottom right is a picture of activists outside the Theatre Royal in Stratford. In 1992 it premiered a production of "A Better Life" which was based on the life of Keir.

Many people commented on his election manifesto leaflet on how many similar problems face us nowadays such as the need for "Healthy Homes", Fair rents", "Work for the Unemployed" etc. 

#HappyBirthdayHardie

"August 15th marks the anniversary of the birth of James Keir Hardie. Every year the Keir Hardie Society celebrate with an online #HappyBirthdayHardie campaign - calling on supporters of the society to send pictures showing the legacy that belongs to one of the most influential people in British politics.

Here are some of the best examples of the #HappyBirthdayHardie celebrations."

I will give this some thought on how to mark his birthday locally. In Newham we have a number of #KeirHardie related sites to choose from! 

Check out this Newham Council booklet to celebrate the 120th anniversary of his election as the first ever Labour MP in 1892 for West Ham South. 

Keir Hardie MP Labour Party membership card 1895 (& modern version)

Yesterday was the 128 anniversary of the birth of the Independent Labour Party (forerunner of the Labour Party). Hat tip Ali G & the Keir Hardie Society.

By coincidence I was sent the above picture of the ILP membership card issued to Keir Hardie dating from 1895, when I assume he was still the first ever Labour MP (for West Ham South). 

Hat tip @LondonNurse2015

Compare with a more recent version of Labour Party membership card. Functional but pretty boring I think. 

Paying homage to Keir Hardie at West Ham

Yesterday I took my fellow UNISON NEC member (and NHS hospital worker) Mary Locke on a whistle stop tour of the Old Town Hall in Stratford. 

Mary was re-elected in May as a Labour Councillor in Birmingham. 

Mary is a huge fan of Keir Hardie who was the first ever Labour Member of Parliament. He was elected as MP for West Ham South on 4 July 1892. 

In this town hall during the 1892 the election count took place in the main hall and Keir made his acceptance speech from its outside balcony to people gathered below in the Broadway. He was then taken on a victory procession to Canning town. 

The old West Ham Council debating chamber is now called the "Will Thorne" chamber (see photo bottom right) in honour of another local MP (and Mayor) who was also a founder of the GMB union. Ironically, one of the founders of UNISON's predecessor union, NALGO, Herbert Blaine, was also a West Ham Council officer but he was also a Conservative Party National Agent! 

July 4: Happy Birthday British Revolution (and 122nd anniversary of election Keir Hardie as first Labour MP)

The 4th July is a special day on both sides of the pond. Today is celebrated as "Independence Day" in the USA.

The American War of Independence (1775-1783) was of course the only successful "British revolution" there has ever been. In the beginning at least the "rebels" thought of themselves as British, fighting for their traditional rights against a despotic monarchy.

To my right is the first version of the American flag.

It was also on 4 July 1892 that the first independent Labour MP, Keir Hardie was elected for West Ham South.

Picture is from a tour of Stratford Town hall organised by West Ham Labour Party on July 4th 2012 to mark the occasion.

The count and declaration was held at the Hall in 1892.  

Keir Hardie: First Labour MP 120th Anniversary Event

Last Wednesday 4th July was the 120th anniversary of the election of Keir Hardie as the first Labour MP.

He was elected as MP for West Ham South in the 1892 General Election.

The modern day West Ham Consistency Labour Party and Newham TULO organised a commemorative tour to mark the occasion. 25 people from Newham and East London turned up.

We started with a tour of the Old Town Hall in Stratford where the election count took place in 1892 and where Keir was announced the winner. We went onto the balcony overlooking the High Street where Keir made his acceptance speech in front of 15-20,000 people. Keir then led a march back through the borough to Canning Town.

We also went into the Bell Tower of the Town Hall and the basement Police cells. There use to be a Magistrate court next door. (Off message - but tradition states that these were the very cells that Mick Jagger and Brian Jones of the Rolling Stones rock group were held in the 1960's for minor public order offences).

We underestimated how long it would take to complete the tour of the Town Hall so we didn't manage to visit the other sites which included historic locations of the radical and suffragette clubs from Hardie's time. 

We stopped off at the Martyrs Memorial in the Church yard of St John.  Which is not about Hardie but is a symbol remembering religious persecution and bigotry down the ages. We finished up outside the famous Theatre Royal built in 1882. Then in the bar for a quick drink followed by a curry in West Ham Lane.

Following the success of this event we are aiming to carry out further Labour movement tours in the future. Details to follow.

Picture outside the Old Town Hall by Dan McCurry. I'll post more pictures of Facebook. Finally, many, many thanks to the Old Town Hall staff for the tour and their enthusiasm: Update see tour photo's here

Keir Hardie 120th Election Anniversary as first Labour MP

Next Wednesday 4 July it is not only the anniversary of the only successful British Revolution, it is also the 120th anniversary of the election of the first ever Labour MP Keir Hardie. Who was elected as the MP for West Ham South on this day in 1892.

West Ham is in the London Borough of Newham the home of the 2012 Olympics.

To mark the anniversary, members of the modern day West Ham Labour Party and Newham TULO are organising a free walking commemoration tour around Stratford town centre.

Meet 7pm Wednesday 4 July 2012 outside the Old Town Hall, Broadway, Stratford, E15. Which of course was where the 1892 election count took place and it was from its open balcony overlooking the High Street that the result was read out to cheering crowds and Hardie made his first speech as a Labour Member of Parliament.

The tour will be very informal and will take around 90 minutes following which people will be the opportunity to go for an optional meal at Manus Indian Restaurant in nearby West Ham Lane. Or a beer (or Temperance soft drink) or two may be purchased at the King Eddies or one of the other historic pubs in the area.

PS We are still drawing up the itinerary - if you have any Labour Movement history sites to suggest we visit on route please let me know.

120th anniversary of the election of Keir Hardie as Independent Labour MP for West Ham South

In July 1892 Scottish trade union leader J Keir Hardie became the first Independent Labour MP when he was elected for West Ham South. He defeated the sitting Conservative candidate by 5,268 votes to 4,036. Following his election he made a speech to supporters from the outside balcony of the Old Town Hall in Stratford.  Today you can walk past this spot on Stratford High Street.

At the West Ham ward meeting last week the following motion was passed unanimously:-

“West Ham Labour Party branch propose that the 120^th anniversary of the election of Keir Hardie as Independent Labour MP for West Ham South be marked in some way in Stratford Town Hall ”.  This was noted at West Ham Executive Council last night and will go to the local Party General Council on the 26th.

 

 

This anniversary will also take place just before the London Olympics 2012 begins in Stratford. We will see if we can possibly link both events. In the meanwhile I asked the social media Labour Movement historian Captain Swing (who had reminded me of the anniversary) if he had any ideas how we can mark the occasion. He suggested (amongst many things) that we hold a local Labour Party seminar to discuss what Keir Hardie can teach us today (and to dye the Thames Red!). Hat tip picture Captain Swing.